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Adult Son Says No To Religious Mom Moving In, She Hits Him With Guilt Trips And Biblical Sermons
Sad middle-aged religious mom resting head on a table, reflecting on guilt trips from adult son refusing her moving in.

Adult Son Says No To Religious Mom Moving In, She Hits Him With Guilt Trips And Biblical Sermons

Interview With Expert

26

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It’s no secret that separating from parents is a rather painful, yet incredibly important, process, without which, as many experts claim, a person cannot fully grow up. However, as it turns out, separating from adult children is no less important.

Today, we present to you a story from the user u/AnalogWeekend_01, who and his fiancée had just bought a wonderful, cozy house and were beginning to plan a peaceful, happy life together, when suddenly his toxic mother tried to intrude. Okay, let’s just cut to the chase now.

More info: Reddit

RELATED:

    Separation from parents is sometimes quite a painful process for adult children, but the opposite process is actually no less difficult

    Middle-aged woman looking distressed and sad, symbolizing guilt trips from religious mom in family conflict.

    Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    The author of the post is 30 years old, he recently bought a cozy house for himself and his fiancée, but then his mom came into the picture

    Text excerpt showing adult son explaining to religious mom why she can't move in, amid guilt trips and biblical sermons.

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    Text excerpt showing an adult son describing emotional guilt trips and biblical sermons from his religious mom after saying no to her moving in.

    Alt text: Adult son refusing religious mom moving in while she uses guilt trips and biblical sermons to persuade him

    Text excerpt describing a religious mom asking to move in due to rent issues, causing guilt trips and stress.

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    Older religious woman making a phone call at home, expressing emotion related to guilt trips and family conflict.

    Image credits: shurkin_son / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    This lady is quite a toxic person, and she recently got divorced from the author’s stepfather, so she wanted to move in with the son and future daughter-in-law, “for a little while”

    Text showing a son refusing his religious mom’s move-in request, highlighting guilt trips and biblical sermons.

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    Text excerpt showing a son feeling guilt and uncertainty after letting his religious mom stay during a personal crisis.

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    Text describing religious mom's guilt trips and biblical sermons after adult son says no to her moving in.

    Adult son refuses religious mom moving in, facing guilt trips and biblical sermons from her.

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    Adult son and religious mom in kitchen, son resisting her move-in and handling guilt trips and biblical sermons.

    Image credits: ufabizphoto / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    However, the author has an unpleasant experience of sharing the roof with his mom from the past, so he said a flat-out “No”

    Text message about honoring parents with Bible verses, part of religious mom guilt trips to adult son refusing move-in.

    Text excerpt showing adult son explaining to religious mom why she can’t move in, with tension over family priorities.

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    Text excerpt about adult son facing guilt trips and biblical sermons from religious mom after saying no to her moving in.

    Text showing a son expressing feeling forced to choose between his future marriage and a religious mom moving in with guilt trips and sermons.

    Adult son setting boundaries with religious mom using guilt trips and biblical sermons in a tense family conversation.

    Image credits: AnalogWeekend_01

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    So now the mom is trying to emotionally blackmail the author, willing to get what she wants, by hook or by crook

    The Original poster (OP) says he is 30 years old, and his fiancée is a year younger. The couple recently bought a cozy house, but before they could enjoy the joys of their new homeownership life, fate forcefully intervened in their idyll. Fate, as portrayed by our hero’s 56-year-old mom, who had just completed quite a painful divorce from his stepfather.

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    And then, just recently, the mother got in touch with the original poster and announced that she would “stay with them for a little while.” The son had never heard of this idea before, but the mom spoke of it as if it had been a long-agreed-upon fact. However, an unpleasant surprise awaited her – the man flat-out said “No” to her attempt to move in with them.

    The thing is, the author already has quite an unpleasant experience with similar situations. Eight years ago, the mom, after breaking up with her then-boyfriend, also asked to come over “for two weeks.” Then it turned out to be four months, and those months became a true nightmare for the author and his girlfriend, as the mom used her entire arsenal of toxicity and manipulation on them.

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    This woman attempted emotional blackmail this time as well, accusing the author of filial ingratitude at least. Being a very religious person, she interspersed her reproaches with biblical quotations – but this time, our hero, having learned from past experience, didn’t succumb to the provocation. And now the man decided to ask for advice online – what should he do?

    Adult son sitting on couch, holding phone with stressed expression, dealing with religious mom's guilt trips and biblical sermons.

    Image credits: SkelDry / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    “Situations where parents resort to emotional blackmail of adult children, trying to make them feel guilty just to achieve their goals, are, alas, common nowadays,” says Maria Kryvosheeva, a psychologist and NLP coach, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. “In fact, this isn’t about helping parents, but rather about emotional ‘recharge.'”

    According to the expert, the author’s mother most likely wants to restore her emotional well-being after a difficult divorce, and for people of this type (and the son’s story provides enough information to form a fairly detailed impression), the best way to do this is to make the lives of others a nightmare.

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    “Luckily, this man has already learned the hard way from living under the same roof with his mother, and one can only hope he doesn’t succumb to her manipulations. Now, apparently, she’s found a weak spot in his defense in his fiancée – and is trying to attack this spot by all means. The main thing now is not to give in and defend their personal boundaries,” Maria claims.

    People in the comments also noted that our hero is absolutely right in this case, and that a healthy adult at 56 is rather capable of fully taking care of herself without resorting to various ugly emotional tricks. “Help her through, but remember you’re two young people with your whole life ahead of you,” someone wisely wrote. “She needs to be responsible for herself.” So do you, our readers, also agree with this?

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    Most people in the comments unanimously sided with the man, urging him to stand his ground and not give in under any circumstances

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    Commenter advising to stand ground as adult son refuses religious mom moving in amid guilt trips and biblical sermons online.

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    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    Read less »
    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    What do you think ?
    Mel in Georgia
    Community Member
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't think his SO realizes how much of a strain taking in a difficult person can be on a marriage. OP is absolutely correct in sticking with his boundaries, both for is sake and theirs.

    Kate Johnson
    Community Member
    Premium
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think that mother sounds like a faux religious narcissist, with a long history of obnoxious behavior. Funny how her religious proclivities apparently did nothing to her character to make her a more tolerable person. Just nasty and judgmental. No wonder her husband divorced her. Don't back down.

    Sylvain
    Community Member
    2 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The mom is just using religion to get her own way, she's a fake and a hypocrite. But then that's what being a christian has become in the US.

    Mel in Georgia
    Community Member
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't think his SO realizes how much of a strain taking in a difficult person can be on a marriage. OP is absolutely correct in sticking with his boundaries, both for is sake and theirs.

    Kate Johnson
    Community Member
    Premium
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think that mother sounds like a faux religious narcissist, with a long history of obnoxious behavior. Funny how her religious proclivities apparently did nothing to her character to make her a more tolerable person. Just nasty and judgmental. No wonder her husband divorced her. Don't back down.

    Sylvain
    Community Member
    2 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The mom is just using religion to get her own way, she's a fake and a hypocrite. But then that's what being a christian has become in the US.

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